Bromoacetone is present (less than 1%) in the essential oil of a seaweed (Asparagopsis taxiformis) from the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands.

[3] Bromoacetone is prepared by combining bromine and acetone,[4] with catalytic acid.

The main difficulty with this method is over-bromination, resulting in di- and tribrominated products.

If a base is present, bromoform is obtained instead, by the haloform reaction.

[5] It was used in World War I as a chemical weapon, called BA by British and B-Stoff (Weisskreuz) by Germans.